


You’re an asshole, Mr Santiago!

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Series: Tumblr prompts [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Flirting, Hotel Dumort, Hotel guest Simon, Hotels, M/M, Not Beta Read, Pet Names, Raphael is a Little Shit, Raphael works the night shift at the front desk, Simon has an active imagination, Spanish Pet Names, Teasing, Tumblr Prompt, assumed ghost sighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 08:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8155975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: He heard the sound again and it made his hair stand on end because the creaky wood noise sounded like someone walking very slowly, dragging their feet with every step and it was like right out of a horror movie. Simon suppressed the ridiculous urge to go knock on the door to his mother’s and sister’s room but he also felt like these sounds were far from normal and what if ghosts were real after all?! It was the middle of the night, he was still tired and his brain did not function properly - he was allowed to think stupid shit!Simon couldn’t tell why it seemed like a good idea to snatch up his key and leave his room but that was exactly what he did. Not to investigate the creepy sounds, he knew how such things turned out and he didn’t have a death wish, but to get further away from the noises. The dimmed lights in the hallway made the old hotel look even eerier and a few steps away from his door he severely regretted the decision to leave his room. He turned around to head back, saw a dark silhouette at the other end of the hallway that definitely moved and…he bolted. No.fucking.way!





	

**Author's Note:**

> [Here](http://fangtasticsaphael.tumblr.com/post/99675449967) is the Tumblr post with the prompt/meme and [here](http://fangtasticsaphael.tumblr.com/post/151055680527) the answer post with this story :)
> 
> This one is #7 - _Paranormal encounter/ghost sighting_.
> 
> Finally got it done and I know it would have been perfect for a supernatural/vampire AU (or canon) but somehow I ended up with a human AU once again. I can’t seem to help myself.

Simon fell onto his comfortably soft hotel bed with a sigh and closed his eyes. He was in New York City for the week with his Mum and Rebecca because he would start studying at the university here in about two months and was looking for a small apartment because his family lived a little outside of the city so that commuting wasn’t an option. Which meant the upcoming week was stuffed with appointments to look at apartments. His mum accompanied him because he might have a better chance getting on the good side with landlords if a _responsible adult_ was around to vouch for him or whatever. Rebecca, his older sister, simply went with because she wanted to shop and explore the city during their stay.

The car ride to the Hotel had only been about three hours but they already had two appointments today and the teen felt completely exhausted. His mother and sister shared the room next door while he had one all to himself. Simon stretched out on the bed that was a little larger than his own at home and yawned, wrapping himself up in the blanket, and it didn’t take too long for him to fall asleep.

*

It was close to three in the morning when a weird sound woke Simon up. He blinked sleepily, not even knowing what it was that woke him, when it happened again - a weird scratching noise and something that almost sounded like breathing but maybe it was just the wind. He got goosebumps anyway and an uneasy feeling settled low in his stomach, heat beating a tad quicker with beginning anxiety. Yes, he was a 19-year-old guy, high school graduate and would be living on his own in the big city in a few weeks but weird sounds in the middle of the night still scared him, made his imagination run wild.

Even as a kid he had always been one of those with a too wanton imagination, connecting sounds in the dark with some monster lurking for the right time to make him the next meal. Of course, he didn’t believe in monsters and alike anymore, not really. But being rational was still difficult at times and knowing that there was no reason to be scared didn’t help to just _not be scared_. His love for movies and books, especially of the horror genre, probably didn’t help much.

Simon reached out for the lamp on his bedside table and could help but jump a little when he noticed a shadow from the corner of his eye…that turned out to be the old tube television every room of the hotel had because they obviously hadn’t noticed the arrival of the 21st century. The hotel seemed to be around for maybe a hundred years or more, though, so it wasn’t too surprising that they renovated it but still kept it a little bit on the old-school side of things. He didn’t really mind but his imagination immediately jumped to thoughts of haunted old buildings and all the movies of this kind that he ever watched.

He heard the sound again and it made his hair stand on end because the creaky wood noise sounded like someone walking very slowly, dragging their feet with every step and it was like right out of a horror movie. Simon suppressed the ridiculous urge to go knock on the door to his mother’s and sister’s room but he also felt like these sounds were far from normal and _what if ghosts were real after all_?! It was the middle of the night, he was still tired and his brain did not function properly - he was allowed to think stupid shit!

Simon couldn’t tell why it seemed like a good idea to snatch up his key and leave his room but that was exactly what he did. Not to investigate the creepy sounds, he knew how such things turned out and he didn’t have a death wish, but to get further away from the noises. The dimmed lights in the hallway made the old hotel look even eerier and a few steps away from his door he severely regretted the decision to leave his room. He turned around to head back, saw a dark silhouette at the other end of the hallway that definitely moved and…he bolted. _No.fucking.way!_

The teen was out of breath when he reached the also dimly lit lobby of the hotel and he was automatically drawn towards the front desk where a few brighter lights were turned on for the two guys on the night shift. Simon only saw one of them - well, he saw some perfectly styled dark hair because the man was looking down at something - and slowly walked towards the front desk, heart still hammering and throat dry.

“I think your hotel might be haunted.” Okay, it wasn’t exactly the best opener but, again, it was the middle of the night and his brain was barely functioning properly. The man jumped a little because he obviously hadn’t noticed him racing down the stairs and removed his headphones - that would explain him not noticing Simon - and the teenager realised the other might be around his own age, maybe a few years older than him but not much.

“Come again?”

Holy mother of–This was probably the most sinful voice he ever had the pleasure to hear and for a split second Simon forgot all about the earlier occurrences. The guy’s voice wasn’t the only thing mildly breathtaking about him, he looked like he walked straight out of some magazine with his chiselled face, dark eyes and expressive eyebrow.

“Uh…I–that–ghost,” Simon stammered and he felt like facing whatever was upstairs might have been a better idea than coming down here to embarrass himself in front of the most gorgeous person he had ever seen. This was just his luck. The aforementioned expressive eyebrows closed in on the young man’s hairline.

“Are you drunk? You don’t look old enough to be legally drunk,” the other said with a frown and tilted his head to the side, assessing Simon with open wariness.

“I’m not drunk! I was asleep until a few minutes ago but then I heard strange noises and there was someone at the end of the hallway!” Simon replied, his cheeks burning with embarrassment, and he had to admit this sounded pretty ridiculous when he said it out loud.

“And the only logical conclusion was a ghost? Really?”

Simon expected the other to start laughing at him but surprisingly it didn’t happen, though his dark eyes shone with barely hidden amusement. The night shift was probably pretty boring so a slightly crazy hotel guest might be quite the entertainment.

“Well…this hotel seems very old and such buildings often have a creepy history,” Simon pointed out and maybe he should have just said _no_ but why on earth would he take a logical step towards not sounding like a nutcase? But that wouldn’t be him - he had this idiotic tendency to always say the wrong things, especially around hot people; they made him nervous.

“And you think you saw a ghost from the hotel’s bloody past?” The guy asked and Simon squinted at the fancy looking name tag pinned to the other’s chest that told him the young man was _Mr Santiago_. He drew his eyes back up to the finely shaped face and shrugged a little.

“Maybe?” He didn’t know why it came out as a question and scratched the side of his neck with his fingertips. He should have stayed in his room instead of freaking out over nothing but that meant he wouldn’t have met the hot night shift guy - _Mr Santiago_ , his brain supplied. He wondered what Mr Santiago’s first name might be.

“Wait, the hotel had a bloody history??” Simon belatedly realised the other’s words and this time the guy didn’t hold back a short, silent laugh.

“If you consider it a bloody past that the hotel was built near the mass grave of massacred Indians and that some of said Indians might have been tortured and murdered in the house that stood in the very place the hotel is now…that would be a yes,” Mr Santiago said with a little shrug, sounding almost bored as if talking about the weather. Simon’s eyes widened in horror, especially because this story sounded weirdly familiar, and he definitely regretted asking.

“Are you trying to tell me the murdered Indians are haunting the hotel??” Simon stared at the other with wide eyes and a cold shiver ran down his spine, causing goosebumps on his skin and he could’ve help but wrap his arms around himself, shifting uneasily where he stood in front of the counter. His eyes darted through the empty lobby, almost expecting to see the bloody, torn apart figure of one of those Indians but of course, the was nothing.

“No, it’s probably the guy who murdered them. Before the house was destroyed, two families that live here described mysterious things happening in this house and the oldest son of the first even murdered his family one night, saying he heard a voice telling him to do it. He was supposedly possessed by the maniac. Something similar happened to the father of the second family but they fled the house before he could end up murdering anyone - well, except for the dog, he wasn’t lucky enough.”

Simon stared, horrified before it suddenly clicked _why_ this story sounded so familiar and he narrowed his eyes at the night shift guy.

“Did you seriously just tell the Amityville Horror story?! That was 112 Ocean Avenue, that’s not even close to where we are right now, dude!” Simon complained and his heart was hammering against his ribs nonetheless because for a split second he had been about to believe what he had just been told. The other blinked at him but couldn’t keep his lips from pulling into a grin any longer before he burst out laughing.

“ _Dios mío_ , your face! You honestly believed me there, didn’t you?” His laughter rang through the otherwise silent lobby and Simon felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment, crossing his arms in front of his chest with an admittedly childish pout.

“You’re an asshole, Mr Santiago!” Simon exclaimed but in only seemed to fuel the other laughter, whose dark eyes already shone with unshed tears. _It wasn’t_ that _funny!_

“My name is Raphael,” the guy mentioned when his laughter finally died down and he swept his fingertips over his eyes, slightly out of breath and a wide grin still prominent on his unfairly plump and soft looking lips. _Not the time_ , Simon reprimanded himself.

“Well, good for you, _Raphael_ ,” he tried to pronounce the name in a way that sounded insulting but he didn’t quite manage it and it turned out seeming more sulking than anything, “you’re still an asshole.”

“I’m perfectly fine with that. And about your ghost sighting or whatever you think that was - don’t be ridiculous. If you heard strange noises it’s probably because great parts of the hotel are made of wood, it _creaks_ occasionally on its own. That’s what it does. And you probably saw another guest who couldn’t sleep in the hallway,” Raphael said with a shrug, still grinning in open delight, and got up from his chair behind the counter to walk around it.

“Okay…that…sounds logical,” Simon admitted sheepishly, his cheeks growing even hotter and he wished for the ground to just swallow him up right now, _please_.

“What’s your room number, _loco_? I’ll accompany you upstairs and make sure you’re not kidnapped by some mass murdering ghost,” he teased with a slight tilt of his head towards the elevator and Simon hated how stupidly attractive Raphael looked while being a douchebag.

“It’s 326 and…did you just call me _madman_?!”

Raphael seemed surprised he understood the teasing pet name but it was quickly replaced with another grin.

“I didn’t expect you to understand Spanish. Paid attention in school, huh?” The other asked and gestured towards the elevator again, this time, Simon gave in and started moving but he still glared at Raphael, offended.

“I took French. My parents are Colombian and Cuban, so I do know a decent amount of Spanish. I’m not fluent, though,” Simon replied with a little shrug and Raphael hummed softly, pressed the pad of his thumb against the button to call the elevator.

“You’re not fluent but you know the word for _madman_? That’s a little odd,” Raphael pointed out and leant against the frame of the elevator door, waiting for its arrival.

“That one I learned from a comic,” Simon answered with a little shrug and he tried not to stare at the slightly shorter male, who looked completely relaxed despite his fancy work uniform. The tie around Raphael’s neck was loosened, the top button of his dress shirt popped open to reveal more bronze coloured skin and Simon was torn between the still lingering embarrassment and being kind of glad to have met this devilishly handsome young man - even though he was kind of an asshole, still.

“Of course you did, _loco_.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? And stop calling me that!”

“You do realise you wear pyjama bottoms with Spider-Man all over it? It’s pretty obvious you’re into that kind of stuff and you running around like this is proof of you being slightly crazy as well,” Raphael replied and stepped into the elevator when the door slid open with a short ringing sound. Simon gaped at the other and only stepped into the elevator when Raphael grabbed his wrist to pull him inside before the doors closed again.

“Did you seriously just insult me _and_ Spider-Man in one sentence?!”

“I insulted your taste in clothing and reading matters, yes. What do you want to do about it, _loco lindo_? Send Casper after me?” Raphael smirked and Simon wanted to punch the smug expression off the other’s lips. Preferably with his own mouth. Fuck. The guy was a menace, this shouldn’t be hot! Also, _what was up with the development of this damn pet name?!_

“I hate you,” Simon mumbled, his stupid brain not supplying him with a more eloquent response and Raphael only chuckles with his stupidly velvety sounding voice and ridiculously gorgeous face. How was this guy even real?

“This hotel is called _Hotel Dumont_ , that sounds awfully close to _Dumort_ \- it was only logical to assume haunting a and a horrible past!” It was a lame attempt at defending his never existing honour but he had to try, at least.

“Uh-huh. Sure thing, _loco hermoso_.”

“Could you _stop_ it with this nickname?! I’m neither cute nor pretty. And I’m certainly not crazy!” Simon complained but his cheeks felt treacherously warm even though he knew the guy was just teasing him and didn’t mean anything with these weird compliments. Raphael only laughed again and his hand suddenly came to rest on Simon’s shoulder, causing him to lose his train of thought and his heart to skip a beat for some reason. Raphael’s warmth seeped trough the thing material of Simon’s shirt and he was about to ask what was going on when the other simply pushed him out of the elevator - when did the doors open??

“You should really get back to bed, maybe that’ll help your crazy imagination,” the other said with a grin and keep on pushing Simon, surprisingly gentle, until they came to a stop in front of room 326. For some reason, Simon’s heart fluttered when he reached for the key because Raphael watched the movement instead of turning around and heading back downstairs.

“Don’t you have to get back to work?” He asked, fumbling with the key to get the door unlocked while glancing at Raphael at the same time. It was too late for proper multitasking and he almost dropped the key before finally sliding it into the lock.

“It’s the middle of the night, _normal people_ are asleep right now. The front desk will survive a few minutes of being unattended. And like I said, gotta make sure you’re not being assaulted by Casper.”

“Wanna come inside and check if there’s a ghost lurking under my bed?” Simon asked drily and as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth he realised that this sounded like the worst pickup line in the history of ever. He didn’t even mean it like _that_ , dammit! Of course, Raphael chuckled again and reached out to push the now unlocked door open which lead to him being almost pressed against Simon’s back, hot breath fanning over the sensitive skin of his neck.

“As tempting as that sounds but that would take a little longer than a few minutes and I do have to get back to my job eventually. Maybe another time, _loco lindo_ ,” Raphael murmured and his soft lips brushed against his outer ear. This guy even managed to make this stupid pet name sound weirdly sexual. The warmth and closeness disappeared when the other simply pushed him into the room and closed the door without another word. Even through the wooden door, Simon could still hear Raphael’s soft chuckle and he knew it would take him a while to fall back asleep because of this stupid asshole…


End file.
